The public needs to see every little item that is being included in the stimulus bill so they have a chance to object to it or not before it's voted on. Remember Obama wants transparency.

Gee, I wonder if the Village pundits will castigate them for not showing bi-partisanship?

Rep. John Conyers Jr.'s decision to subpoena Karl Rove to testify about the "politicization" of the Bush Justice Department has dumped a thorny legal question in the laps of President Barack Obama's White House lawyers before they've even had time to settle into their new jobs.

Conyers, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, had a subpoena served on Rove on Tuesday. Rove's attorney, Robert Luskin, immediately forwarded the subpoena to White House counsel Greg Craig for guidance on how the Obama administration wants Rove to respond.

Former President George W. Bush maintained that senior White House aides had enjoyed "absolute immunity" from congressional subpoenas. As a result, the Bush Justice Department refused to seek criminal contempt charges for executive branch officials who failed to answer demands from Congress.

During the presidential campaign, Obama indicated that he rejected Bush's take on absolute immunity as a general matter. Craig promised that an Obama White House would "be much more transparent than" the Bush administration had been in dealing with Congress -- and added that Bush White House officials did not pay "adequate deference to either the House or Senate."

But now Obama administration lawyers will have to confront the question in the specific context of the Judiciary investigation into Bush's Justice Department. And as much as some Democrats would like to see Rove forced to testify, they're also aware that Republicans could someday retake control of the House or Senate -- and that Obama administration officials could then be on the receiving end of congressional subpoenas.

"This wasn't a fight they wanted right now, that's for sure," a Democratic lawmaker said of the White House legal team.

I am thoroughly average. Here's the picture... I am a fifty-something father with two kids. I work as a technician with an average wage and I have invested steadily in a 401K, within a minimal risk category for 25 years. During this year, I have lost $50,000 to the banking industry. Now, mind you, my mortgage, car and house-repair loans have not fluctuated one bit during this time (it's not like anyone loses track of how much I owe), but my savings have been subject to incredible loss. And, it's not like I have ever received large gains over the years, ever, on my savings... the average per year has been between 3-5%.

So, if there were 100 million or so other schlubs, (not just in the U.S.A, but in this world of 6,000+ million people) in a similar position (after all I don't want to exaggerate my example) then that means a bit of that $50,000 multiplied by 100 million has gone into someone's wallets. I would say it's gone to the privatized banking industry and it amounts to a staggering amount of money. If you look at the numbers it's no less than one thousand trillion dollars ($1,000 trillion). No wonder the banking industry is stalling about lending... they know there's way more than 350 billion or 800 billion dollars out there... we are talking trillions.

Jan. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Lawyers at Kirkland & Ellis LLP, home to former Whitewater prosecutor Ken Starr, are asking as much as $1,110 an hour for bankruptcy work while creditors are recovering less of their loans through company restructurings.

Kirkland requested a top rate equal to $18.50 a minute for advising Tronox Inc. in its bankruptcy, according to court papers filed Jan. 26. Chicago-based Sidley Austin LLP and New York's Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP also requested hourly rates exceeding $1,000 in the past two months in separate bankruptcy cases, as lenders' recoveries are forecast by ratings company Moody's Corp. to drop 22 percent in the recession.

Professionals' fees in bankruptcy cases are growing at four times the rate of inflation, estimated Lynn LoPucki, a professor of bankruptcy law at the University of California, Los Angeles. Total fees paid for lawyers, accountants and other professionals in bankruptcies from 1998 to 2007 doubled, while the consumer price index rose about 25 percent, he said.

"As the economy gets worse, the bankruptcy lawyers are charging more," LoPucki said. "It seems that each month one sets a new record for hourly billing rates. $1,110 is, to my knowledge, a record for the debtor's bankruptcy counsel."

The CIA's station chief at its sensitive post in Algeria is under investigation by the U.S. Justice Department for allegedly raping at least two Muslim women who claim he laced their drinks with a knock-out drug, U.S. law enforcement sources tell ABC News.

Officials say the 41-year old CIA officer, a convert to Islam, was ordered home by the U.S. Ambassador, David Pearce, in October after the women came forward with their rape allegations in September.

I am an NRDC WWF member and everything, promise! I spent a small fortune energizing my home, tankless hot water heater, whole nine yards, it is 115 degrees here most of the time and now we wont be billed on our electricity usage?!?!

God Bless him

We're about to find out whose right.   Big government deficit spending vs. cutting taxes.   it's an honest debate and I for one am glad the republicans have gone with their core beliefs and the dems vice versa.

We'll soon know if it works.  

I just wish I'd kissed my democratic congressmans butt a little more before the pork started getting handed out.

May we have wisdom not to fear shadows in the night, and courage when the day of danger truly dawns.

President Obama's choice to run the Justice Department has assured senior Republican senators that he won't prosecute CIA officers or political appointees who were involved in the Bush administration's policy of "enhanced interrogations."

Sen. Christopher "Kit" Bond, a Republican from Missouri and the vice chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, said in an interview with The Washington Times that he will support Eric H. Holder Jr.'s nomination for Attorney General because Mr. Holder assured him privately that Mr. Obama's Justice Department will not prosecute former Bush officials involved in the interrogations program.

I would like to know exactly what was said to Bond.  Bond's actual quoted statements are less severe:

In the interview Wednesday, Mr. Bond said, "I made it clear that trying to prosecute political leaders would generate a political firestorm the Obama administration doesn't need."

He added, "I was concerned about previous statements he made and others had made. He gave me assurances that he would not take those steps that would cause major disruptions in our intelligence system or cause political warfare. We don't need that kind of political warfare. He gave me assurances he is looking forward."

Mr. Bond also said, "I believe he will look forward to keep the nation safe and not look backwards to prosecute intelligence operators who were fighting terror and kept our country safe since 9-11."

Gawd save us

budgets slashed

some of the lowlights from the lowlifes who suggested these cuts and say our legislators have to find other things to cut to save these:

• Eliminate the KidsCare health-care program, for a savings of $18.3 million this year and $35.6 million next year. The program provides health care to nearly 63,000 Arizona children. These children come from families that do not qualify for the state's Medicare program, the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, but whose incomes fall below 200 percent of the federal poverty level of $21,200 for a family of four.

• Eliminate KidsCare Parents, a companion program to KidsCare that covers parents. Ending the program would save $4.7 million this year and $7.3 million next year.

• Cut funding to the Arizona Board of Regents by $26 million this year and $58 million next year. Among the options: Take the official enrollment count on the 45th day of the semester, rather than the current standard of the 21st day. Typically, enrollment is lower later in the semester.

• Save $115 million by cutting various university programs this year, mostly through lump-sum reductions. Another $178 million in savings is suggested for 2009-10.